


Operation: Karaoke

by TtotheCofA



Series: Tales from Tempo [5]
Category: Mystery Skulls Animated
Genre: Multi, Vivi is mentioned but not featured, still hanging out in 2015
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-17
Updated: 2019-05-17
Packaged: 2020-03-07 00:18:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,452
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18861886
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TtotheCofA/pseuds/TtotheCofA
Summary: Surprisingly, the Deadbeats know how to be subtle.





	Operation: Karaoke

**Author's Note:**

> At least, they can be their own definition of 'subtle'...

The Deadbeats adored music.  
  
Country, folk, rock, pop, the genre didn’t matter. As long as it was musical, one could find those formless pink spirits humming, chirping, whistling, and singing it. Any catchy tune was fair game, though instrumentals seemed to be preferred above vocal tracks. Lewis had a hard time keeping any new violin pieces a secret, as one of his little minions would inevitably pick up on them, and hum them all around the mansion.  
  
And once one Deadbeat found a new favorite, the rest did, too.

Arthur still hadn’t put the radio back together after scavenging it for project parts, so when he heard the familiar bars of a painful tune floating through the room, he slowly turned his head to glare at the Deadbeat that had been reading over his shoulder for the past hour. Blank yellow eyes stared back at him cheerfully, and the humming continued without pause. The blond made a face, and pointedly turned back to his book, hoping to ignore the tune.   
  
He knew it by heart, but the memories it carried with it were some of the happiest he’d ever had…memories of Vivi, spinning him around the room despite his two left feet, belting Broadway at the top of her lungs…memories of Lewis holding him close and jokingly serenading him whenever this song came on the radio…memories of the moments that he slowly pieced together to realize that what he felt for his friends was not simple friendship anymore.  
  
The three of them were far closer now than they had been back they, but they were still recovering from the past year. Devastation caused by his own weakness. That tune and its wonderful memories were now bittersweet; so heartwarming were they in nature that they burned until his heart turned to ash.  
  
He didn’t deserved to feel that happiness anymore.   
  
….not after what he’d done to them.  
  
But the Deadbeat stubbornly kept humming, and one of its brethren phased up through the floor to join in with a cheerful chirp. Arthur found himself trying to stare a hole through the same spot on the page as he tried to ignore them with deceasing success. Despite his best efforts, he felt the words spilling from his lips, and his voice rising in soft tenor tones that he hadn’t found good reason to use for what felt like a lifetime.  
  
“Never knew I could feel like this….” Arthur sang softly, at first barely audible above the humming Deadbeats. “Like I’ve never seen the sky before…” He closed his book, and let it fall into his lap. “I want to vanish inside your kiss….every day I’m loving you more and more.” Encouraged by the success of their prompting tune, the two Deadbeats began humming louder, and several more appeared through the walls and ceiling, easily picking up on the familiar melody and joining in. A hollow smile tugged at Arthur’s lips, and he raised his own voice a little.  
  
He could sing this for the Deadbeats, right?  
  
………  
  
Elsewhere in the mansion, Lewis looked up from tuning his violin to watch in surprise as his three-Deadbeat audience suddenly perked up, and then phased through the floor. Curious as to what had captured their attentions so sharply, the ghost set aside his instrument and followed after them to the floor below. He could hear them singing, somewhere down the hall, and the tune was familiar….  
  
Lewis followed after the sound, and when he finally found its source, all he could do was stare. Arthur was sitting on the couch, surrounded by singing Deadbeats, and with a book forgotten in his lap. His eyes were closed, so he didn’t see Lewis standing in the doorway, and he was doing something that Lewis realized suddenly he hadn’t seen him do in over a year: Arthur was singing.  
  
That smooth tenor timbre was music to his ghostly ears, and Lewis felt a contented sigh pass the lips of his human disguise. But as he opened his eyes, he realized….Arthur was singing, but he wasn’t smiling. In fact, he was…crying. Then, that smooth tenor wavered and hitched, falling below the background Deadbeats just a few beats shy of the end of the verse. Lewis heard this, and he swore he felt his heart crack a little more.  
  
Silently, the ghost began edging his way around the room, raising one finger to his lips to silence the Deadbeats who noticed him as he came to stand behind the couch, and behind Arthur. The melody was quickly approaching the second verse, and Arthur was still struggling to find his voice again. Lewis softly began humming, blending his voice in with the Deadbeats so that Arthur wouldn’t hear him right away.  
  
“….suddenly the world seems such a perfect place,” Arthur finally found his voice again, but it shook awfully. “Suddenly it moves with such a perfect grace…” Lewis cringed just to hear the blond fighting the emotion that closed his throat. “Suddenly my life doesn’t seem such a waste…”  
  
“It all revolves around you.” Lewis decided he couldn’t wait any longer and raised his voice, taking the lead in the song and settling his large hands on Arthur’s shoulders to keep the poor boy from leaping out of his seat in shock. “And there’s no mountain too high, no river too wide. Sing out this song I’ll be there by your side…”   
  
Several Deadbeats picked up the coffee table and yanked it out of the way as Lewis phased through the couch and turned, grabbing Arthur by his prosthetic wrist and pulling him to his feet. The blond seemed struck speechless by the ghost’s appearance, and he was already flushing red with embarrassment at the thought of being caught singing - much less this song in particular. His mouth worked as Lewis took his hands and pulled him in close, but no words came, and Lewis smiled fondly.  
  
“Storm clouds may gather, and stars may collide…” The ghost drifted back, still holding Arthur close, and forced the blond to follow after him in a slow waltz about the room. “But I will love you until the end of time…” All the while, Lewis held Arthur’s gaze, trusting the Deadbeats to rearrange furniture that the much more solid human couldn’t simply pass through. Arthur could only stare back, entranced by the ghostly magenta, and the low, lilting voice. “Come what may…come what may…” Lewis crooned, slowing the waltz and leaning in closer. “I will love you until the end of time…”  
  
The Deadbeats continued to hum and sing through the last few bars of the song, but Lewis fell silent, simply standing with Arthur and resting their foreheads together. The blond swallowed thickly and looped his arms around the ghost’s hips. They were just the right height for resting his elbows, after all. He looked up at Lewis with tears in his eyes….but the emotion wasn’t painful anymore, and he smiled weakly.  
  
“That’s not how the ending goes, Lew.” Arthur pointed out quietly. “It’s supposed to be ‘until my dying day’. Lewis shrugged.   
  
"Well, that’s not accurate, is it?” The ghost quipped, lacing his fingers together behind Arthur’s back. “I don’t like what the real words imply for us; I didn’t actually stop loving you after I died.” He pointed out. Arthur fell into a suspicious silence, and his weak smile faded. Lewis frowned. Oh no. Had he said something wrong already?  
  
“…..you didn’t?” The blond asked in a small voice. Lewis’ expression softened, and he pulled the other into a tight embrace.   
  
“No, Arthur, I didn’t.” Lewis assured his boyfriend. “Despite all appearances…I never stopped loving you. And neither did Vivi.” He pulled back, and freed up one hand to card his fingers through soft, spiky locks. “We’ve been through a really rough patch, lately.” Arthur cringed. A year of murder, guilt, amnesia, possession and hatred was one hell of a 'rough patch’. “But we’re still here…” Lewis smiled hopefully. “And we’re getting through this. Together.” He leaned down slightly and pressed a (surprisingly) warm kiss to the other’s lips. Arthur turned a lovely shade of red, but returned the gesture before Lewis puled back.  
  
The Deadbeats all gave a collective 'awww’, and both men stiffened, having honestly forgotten - as they danced about, lost in each other’s eyes - that they had an audience. Arthur buried his face in Lewis’ chest and the ghost coughed awkwardly, waving his hand in an attempt to shoo away the little spirits. Most of them heeded their master’s command and floated out of the room.  
  
Then they promptly flew off to tell Mistress Vivi the good news. Operation: Karaoke was a success!


End file.
